De Blasio Weighs-In On Hot Dog-Eating Contest

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio peers in at competitive eaters Joey Chestnut, right, and Sonya Thomas as they face off during an official weigh in for the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest at City Hall on Thursday.

Reuters

Bill de Blasio marked another New York City mayoral first Thursday, presiding over the annual City Hall weigh-in ceremony for Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest.

The mayor welcomed to the Blue Room a host of competitive eaters in town for the Independence Day event in Coney Island, Brooklyn. This included seven-time hot dog-eating world champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut–who weighed in at 205-lbs– and women’s record-holder Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas, who tipped the scales at a mere 100-lbs.

“The contest is a one-of-a-kind New York summer tradition,” said Mr. de Blasio. “As a proud Brooklynite I am particularly honored to be a part of this; my family loves Coney Island.”

Competitive eater Joey Chestnut, right, laughs with New York mayor Bill de Blasio and announcer George Shea after the weigh in.

Reuters

The annual competition, in its 98th year, returns to its original location at the corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues Friday. The women’s eating starts at 11.15 a.m. and the men begin at 12.30 p.m.

Organizers said the contest would proceed “rain or shine.”

“We think of ourselves as a treasured tradition here in New York,” said Wayne Norbitz, COO of Nathan’s Famous, who noted they now operate in all 50 states and overseas. But, “When we’re at Coney Island we’re at home,” he said

Organizers expect a crowd of over 30,000 spectators. For those that don’t make it to Coney Island, ESPN will air the action live at noon on ESPNews and rerun it on ESPN2 at 2pm.

Those competing Friday won their seats after emerging victorious from a series of qualifying events held nationwide from April through June. This year’s event has a total prize purse of $40,000.

At last year’s contest, Joey Chestnut broke his own world record by eating 69 hot dogs in just 10 minutes.

“I’m honored to be a part of it and that America’s kind of embraced this as part… of our tradition,” Mr. Chestnut said after the weigh-in.

“I’ll be pushing hard,” he added on retaining his “mustard belt” title.